A string of vehicle problems has been traced back to “bad gas” purchased last week at a local Chevron Station.

The gas was purchased at the Crista Chevron on the corner of Bouquet Canyon Road and Newhall Ranch Road last week according to officials.

Dave Gollatta, Operations Manager for Nation Distribution Services says the problem was caused by their driver who filled the stations tank with the wrong gas, and was not a problem with Chevron gas.

The gas that was put into the tanks was actually a high concentrate additive, but Gollatta says it will not cause harm to a car’s engine.

“It just causes the car to run poorly,” said Gollatta.  “The problems would be felt almost immediately.  It’s like cake frosting, a little is great but too much is not good.”

National Distribution Services recognized the problem two hours after the gas started flowing and sent a representative to the gas station immediately to address any problems with motorists.

The gas sold came out of only one pump and according to Gollatta they know how many cars received the bad gas and use purchase receipts to verify.

The company also sent technicians to local dealerships to test the gas in cars that had come in with symptoms, and pay the necessary repairs.

Cars with problems only required a flush of the fuel systems and replacement of spark plugs to fix the problem, said Gollatta.

“We have had about 10-12 cars reported with the problem,” said Lucho Sessarego, service advisor at Frontier Toyota.

A number of local car dealerships have reported seeing problems as well, including Power Chevy and Saturn of Santa Clarita.

We are trying to accommodate people as best we can,” said Gollatta.  “We have given out gift cards for food and also gas coupons to help the people effected.  This problem is very rare and the last time it happened was at least ten years ago.”

Gollata also reports that a number of people are coming forward with problems with their cars that are not associated with the incident.

The gas was only sold out of one pump at the Crista Chevron and nowhere else.  Other stations in Santa Clarita are not affected by the problems.

National Distribution Services is contracted out by Chevron to transport and distribute gas in Southern California.